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Effects of Yield Components on Lint Yield of Upland Cotton with High Fiber Strength¹

Seeds/boll, lint/seed, and bolls/m² were determined for several PD breeding lines and check cultivars of Upland cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., representative of distinct breeding stages in the simultaneous improvement of lint yield and fiber strength. These yield components were calculated from seed cotton yield, boll size, seed size, and lint percentage measured on the stocks in one or more tests conducted for at least 3 years on the Pee Dee Experiment Station, Florence, S.C. from 1956 to 1972. The objective of the present study was to determine the influence of each component on lint yield and its breeding implication in improvement programs.

Most southeastern commercial cultivars averaged 36 seeds/boll as compared with 33 for PD lines. Seeds/boll can be increased by crossing PD lines with southeastern commercial cultivars and selecting for this characteristic. It might be possible to increase lint yields of PD lines by increasing seeds/boll, which should increase seed surface area for greater lint production. Lint/seed advanced slightly as lint percentages were improved in early developed PD lines. Lint/seed was increased significantly after the introduction of the C 6-5 breeding line because lint percentage and seed size advanced greatly. This component has not influenced yield of recent PD lines appreciably because boll size has declined and lint percentage has remained relatively constant. Bolls/m² has been the major component contributing to lint yields of PD lines. Except for the rapid increase in lint yield from the higher level of lint percentage and larger bolls and seeds derived from C 6-5, increases in lint yields have paralleled increases in bolls/m² We suspect that we will be concerned more with maintaining, rather than increasing, bolls/m² as we develop future PD breeding lines.

Key Words: Cotton breeding • Selection • Cotton quality

² Research agronomist (retired) and Research agronomist, ARS-USDA, Pee Dee Exp. Stn., Florence, SC 29501.

Received for publication July 31, 1975.

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